The present invention relates generally to medical implant devices and, more particularly, to bioinspired antibacterial surfaces for medical implant devices.
Bacterial infections associated with medical implants, such as orthopedic and dental implants, present an important challenge. Medical implants can be fabricated from a variety of materials and according to diverse methods. Bacteria can come into contact with medical implants prior to or even during surgical implantation procedures in a variety of manners, for instance, due to incomplete or ineffective sterilization of the medical implant device, contamination from the patient such as the patient's skin, contaminated disinfectants, or contaminants associated with surgical instruments. Films of bacterial cells can form across the surface of medical devices after implantation. The potential for such biofilm-associated infections continuously increases as the world population ages and undergoes more frequent implantation procedures. In many cases, bacterial infections associated with medical implants are first detected in later stages of infection, where surgical intervention is the only option for treating the infection.
Methods to prevent infection associated with implants include alpha radiation and high temperature steam heating. However, these methods can only reduce or eliminate bacteria present on the surface of the implants. They cannot prevent bacteria from forming on the surface after treatment. Moreover, they cannot prevent bacterial contamination that can arise during the implantation procedure.
Surface texturing is a technique that can be used to increase biocompatibility of medical implants. Known methods for manufacturing medical devices with textured surfaces can produce random patterns of structures or can produce structures that are of a size and dimension unsuitable for application to medical implant devices. A need remains for a long-lasting, reliable medical implant systems and methods to prevent formation of biofilms on implant devices.